Overcoming the Challenges of Declining Card Transactions
A PwC survey found that 32% of customers will stop doing business with a brand they love after just 1 negative experience. That number jumps to 59% after several poor interactions. For financial institutions, the process of declining a card transaction often creates a precarious risk for negative cardholder experiences. It doesn’t help that cards always seem to be declined at the most inopportune times: paying the bill on that date which, up until now, was going so well. Or making a quick purchase online between appointments with no time to spare.
Unfortunately, a declined card is a frustrating experience on many levels. First the cardholder has to scramble to find another way to pay for the purchase, all but pushing a competitor’s card to the top of the wallet. Or perhaps driving that cardholder to a pure digital payment option, such as PayPal, for example.
Worse yet, the now disgruntled cardholder has to contact the financial institution to resolve the issue, often with little to no information as to why the card was declined. Was the transaction flagged as potential fraud? Or over the credit limit? Has the card expired or some other problem? Explaining the situation to a customer service representative (CSR), and possibly being transferred (multiple times) to a card specialist only adds to the anxiety.
Even with an easy resolution, the process is still arduous. After confirming that a transaction was valid and not fraudulent, for example, the card can sometimes be unblocked and ready to use again. Far too often, however, cards are cancelled, which requires the cardholder to order a new one and wait 5 to 10 business days for the replacement card. Once again, the financial institution is literally driving cardholders to competitors.
Reduce Friction in the Cardholder Experience
But what if financial institutions could provide digital services that reduce friction points when cards are declined, improving the overall cardholder experience? Imagine if cardholders could simply respond to that text notifying them of potential fraud activity and clarify everything. Or easily reach a representative online to understand the issue and quickly resolve it. What if the CSR could see the cardholder’s screen and even CoBrowse to jointly resolve the card issue? Digital Customer Service has the potential to greatly improve the cardholder experience and possibly even turn a negative into a positive. Perhaps save that romantic dinner and help the cardholder get a second date …
Our latest white paper, Digital Cardholder Services: How to be “Top of Wallet” AND “Top of Service” reviews how financial institutions can boost revenue, create stickiness and promote loyalty with digital cardholder services that promote a positive experience. It also covers ways to manage fraud and improve overall services to keep cardholders happy and stop them from moving on to a competitor.
